Automatic door mechanism



July 9, 1957. A. B. DOLLAHITE AUTOMATIC DOOR MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 11, 1956 INVENTOR ALGA ape/1.41117? ATTORNEY y 1957 A. B.-DOLLAHITE 2,798,316

AUTOMATIC DOOR MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 11, 1956 INVENTOR A B. DOLLAH/ TE ATTORNEY 2,798,316 7 AUTOMATIC DOOR mCl-IANISM Alga B. Dollahite, El Paso, Tex.

Application April 11, 1956, Serial No. 577,577 12 Claims. ((31. 39-18) and difiicult and expensive to repair, and which required the services of a skilled workman for its maintenance.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to' provide an automatic door or gate mechanism which is relatively simple in construction and which requires no more than ordinary mechanical skill for its installationand maintenance while in use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic door or gate mechanism which is actuated solely by the weight of the body passing through and which requires no electrical connections.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic door or gate mechanism which can be locked in closed position when desired.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide an improved automatic door or gate mechanism, of the character described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly eflicient in operation.

tion consists in the details of construction and comhina tion of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic gate installation embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view of the installation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the locking device.

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the device of Fig. 4, showing it in an unlocked position, with the platform raised.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing the platform lowered.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view, with parts broken away, showing the operating mechanism for the platform.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, there Within the l atented July 9, 1957 2 form1 6, as indicated at 22 and 24. The platform 16 is vertically movable and, as it moves, it raises and lowers the inner, hinged ends of the ramps 12 and 14. When the platform is in raised position, the ramps are in the positions shown in Fig. 5. When the platform is in lowered position, the platform is supported by studs 26 extending from the sides of the frame and the ramps 12 and 14 are supported both by the end studs 18 and 20 and by.

studs 28 and 30 extending from opposite sides of the frame. 7 7

h The platform 16 is mounted upon a pair of oppositely disposed, generally U-shaped rods 32 and 34 extending longitudinally of the platform. Each of these rods are mounted in bearing members, as at 36 and 38 respectively; these hearing members being attached to the underside of the frame, as best shown in Fig. 2. The arms of each U-shaped rod are pivotally connected to levers, in-' dicated at 40 and 42 for rod 32 and 44 and 46 for rod 34. These levers are pivotally connected to hangers, respectivelyshown at 48, 50, 52 and 54, these hangers being connected to the underside of the platform. Springs 56,

are connected at one end to a respective arm portion of one of the U-shaped rods and, at their other ends, are

connected to studs 58 attached to the sides of the frame, The springs 56 act to bias the arms of the U-shaped rods upwardly. This biases the lovers 40, 42, 44 and 46 to the upward direction, and so the platform is biasedinto its raised position.

40, 42, 44, and 46, and, consequently, rods 32 and34, against the force of the springs and so lowers the platform. This causes the gates 60 to open. These gatesare hinged on rods 62 mounted on plates 64 positioned on top of oppositely disposed posts 66. V

The opening of the gates 60 is effected by bevel gears 68 mounted on the lower ends of gate rods 62. These bevel gears are positioned in recesses 70in the frame and mesh with bevel gears 72 on opposite ends of a shaft 74; The gears 72 are only segments since the lower half would serve no function.

the opposite ends of the shaft.

In order to support the central portion of the platform 16, a link 78 is pivoted at one end to a hanger 80 attached to the undersurface of the platform and, at its other end, it is pivoted to a lever 82. The lever 82 is integral with a sleeve 84' surrounding the shaft 74.

In order to lock the platform 16 in raised position,

there is provided a locking mechanism comprising a bar 86 extending cross-wise underneath the platform. This bar 86 is provided with an elongated ring portion 88 through which extends the link 78. The ringis elongated At the opposite end of the bajr186 there is pivotallyconnected a bar or rod 96 having a centrally off-set portion 98' at the pivot area attached to the bar 86. The opposite ends 100 of the rod 96 are pivotally connected to the sides of frame 10, and adjacent one of these ends is a perpendicularly-extending lever 102.

Intermediate the ends of bar 86, but closer to the end on which is mounted rod 96, there is provided a bracket 104" comprising a pair of' inverted L-shap'ed" plates, one on' each side of the bar and pivotally connected thereto by a pm 106 extendingthrough elongated slots" 108 in thelonger', vertical arm of each plate. Thes'eelongated However, when. a. predetermined. weight is' placed upon the platform, it depresses the leversl The gear segments 72 extend into housings 76 which also act as hearing members for slots permit vertical movement of the bar relative to the bracket 104 which is pivotally connected to the platform by means of pivot pins 110. A cross-member 112 is provided at the end of the horizontal portion of the bracket and onthis cross-member are provided a pair of spaced dogs 114.

The reason that the bracket 104 is provided closer to one of the ends of the bar 86 than the other is that its dogs coact with the doors or gates, as will hereinafter appear, and these gates are positioned close to that end of the platform which lies opposite the direction of opening of the gates. This is done because although a suificient area must be provided in front of the gates to cause them to be opened before the person steps into their line of opening movement, it is not necessary to have very' much platform area in back of the gates since even if they open first before the person steps up. to them, they will open away from him and, therefore, will not strike him. However, if the doors or gates open in opposite directions, then it' is best to provide them in the center of the platform. a a

In operation, when the lever 102 is moved to the right, as viewed in Figs. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6, the bar 86 is pulled to the left, thereby pivoting the bracket 104 to move the dogs 114'downward1y. If the platform is in raised position, as in Fig. 5, it is held in such position merely by the mechanism shown in Fig. 7. If the platform is in loweredposition, as in Fig. 6, the rod 90 will be between the platform and ramp 12 and upon release of the weight on the platform, the springs 56 will lift it up again.

However, if it is desired to lock the gates closed, the lever 102 is pulled to the left, as shown in Fig. 3. This moves the bar 86 to the right and brings rod 90 underneath the ramp 12 and bearing against its lower surface. At the same time, the bracket 104 is pivoted upwardly so that its horizontal portion bears against the platform and its dogs 114 project through corresponding openings in the platform to engage against the bottom edges of the gates at their opening side. This prevents their opening. If a weight is placed on the platform it merely acts, through pivoted brackets 104, to increase the frictionalengagement between rodv 90 and the undersurface of ramp 12 to maintain the gates locked.

Although the invention has been illustrated with gates, it may, of course, be used with doors, the only difference being that instead of having only side posts 66, a complete frame is provided around the doors.

' The gates or doors may be constructed to be actuated by either the weight of a vehicle, person, animal or any other approaching object. The actuating weight will be determined by the size and strength of the mechanism, especially the springs 56. If gates are used, they may be large ranch type or small garden type gates. If doors are used, they may be of any type or size such as house, screen, storm, swinging or garage doors. The gates or doors open when the weight of the body depresses the platform, remains open while the body passes through, andthen closes as the weight leaves the platform.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of theinvention is to be determined as claimed. i

7 Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. In an automatically operated closure device, a gate support, a vertical gate pivotally mounted thereon, an upwardly biased platform adjacent said gate, having at least one ramp pivotally attached thereto, and operating means operatively interconnecting said platform and said gate for causing swinging of said gate.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said gate is connected by drive means to a drive shaft, said drive shaft being operatively connected to said platform to be rotated in opposite directions by the raising and lowering ofsaid platform, said drive means being arranged to pivot said gate on its pivotal mounting in one direction when said platform is lowered and in the opposite direction when said platform is raised.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said drive means comprise a bevel gear on the hinge pivot member of each gate, said bevel gears being in mesh with corresponding bevel gears on said drive shaft.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said platform is supported on oppositely-disposed pivot rods, a frame about said platform and said ramp, said pivot rods being pivotally mounted on said frame and being urged into the pivotal position to raise said platform by springs extending between said pivot rods and said frame.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said ramp is removably supported within said frame.

6. In an automatic closure device, a frame, a floating platform vertically movable within said frame, a pair of ramps, one on each side of said platform, hinged to said platform at one end and loosely supported by said frame at their opposite ends, means to urge said platform to a raised position, said platform being depressable by a predetermined weight, closure means, and means connecting said closure means to said platform in such manner that the raising of said platform closes said closure means and the lowering of said platform opens said closure means.

7. The deviceof claim 6 wherein there is provided a locking mechanism for maintaining said platform raised and said closure means closed, and said locking means is provided with a manual actuating means.

8. The device of claim 6 wherein there is provided a locking mechanism for maintaining said platform raised and said closure means closed, and said locking means comprises a longitudinally movable bar, a handle for moving said bar longitudinally, a friction member at one end of said bar, said friction member being movable into frictional engagement with one of said ramps to maintain said platform in raised position when said bar is moved longitudinally in one direction, and lock means on said bar movable through said platform into locking engagement with said closure means when said bar is moved in said one direction. 7

9. The device of claim 8 wherein said lock means comprises a bracket pivoted on said bar, dogs mounted on said bracket and openings in said platform corresponding to said dogs, said dogs being vertically movable through said openings into engagement with said closure means upon a predetermined pivotal movement of said bracket.

10. The device of claim 9 wherein said bracket has a lost motion vertical connection with said bar.

11. An automatic closure device comprising a frame, vertical posts on opposite sides of said frame, a gate hinged on a vertical axis to each of said posts, a vertically movable platform underlying said gates within said frame, a ramp for each end of said platform, one end of each ramp being pivotally attached to one end of said platform, the other end of each ramp being slidably supported by said frame, means cooperating with said frame operatively connecting said gates to said platform in such manner that said platform acts to open said gates when it is lowered and to close said gates when it is raised, and

means resiliently biasing said platform to the raised position.

12. The device of claim 11 wherein the means operatively connecting said gates to said platform comprises gearing on the hinges of said gates in mesh with gears on a rotatable drive shaft, and means on said platform cooperating with said frame for rotating said drive shaft in opposite directions determined by the vertical movement of said platform.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,690,924 Clark Nov. 6, 1928 

